So I was reading about Oregon Forestry laws and history recently, just trying to understand how and why such an often progressive state could have such unsustainable logging practices, and I learned some interesting stuff. There is a citizen group founded about 3 years ago in Lane County's Coast Range area called Pitchfork Rebellion. These are rural folks tired of the big logging companies' practice of clear cutting and dousing the neighboring hills (and their families) with herbicides. They don't like the naked hilltops, choked streams, or the resulting mudslides either. Who would? There's a big rally set for this Sunday July 27th in Portland.Apparently when Oregon's forestry laws were passed in the early 70's they were somewhat ahead of their time. Now they are lagging sadly behind the times and are considered by many to be the weakest protections for the forest in the Western US.
2 comments:
Thanks for shedding some light on this. Oregon's forests practices are some of the worst. Especially on private lands where regulations are little. I know 1st hand having worked for the Forest Service as a Forestry Tech and Env Educator for several years, 2 on the central coast on the Siuslaw. Funny because it this issue seems to have taken a back seat more recently esp compared to the 90's when it was on the forefront of env Issues here in the PNW. Maybe it has taken a back seat to say global warming, who knows, but there used to be a lot more press out there both good and bad.
You're right, dub - we're not hearing enough about this these days. This is in spite of the fact that clear cuts used to be well hidden and more recently are right out there for everyone to see. Maybe people are a bit overwhelmed with all the issues we face today - enviro, economic, social. We gotta lot of work to do...
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